At the age of 12, Gary Hoover began studying the world of commerce by subscribing to FORTUNE magazine and hanging around retail stores in Indianapolis, near his hometown of Anderson, Indiana. He earned a degree in economics from The University of Chicago, studying under Nobel Prize winners George Stigler and Milton Friedman. He then became a retail stock analyst for Citibank on Wall Street, a buyer for Federated Department Stores, and eventually manager of strategic planning for May Department Stores.

In 1982 he finally fulfilled his boyhood dream and founded BOOKSTOP, Inc., in Austin, Texas, the nation's first book superstore chain. He eventually turneed it into the fourth-largest book retailer. In 1989 Barnes & Noble purchased the company for $41.5 million cash, and it became a cornerstone of Barnes & Noble Superstores. In 1990 Hoover founded The Reference Press, Inc., making business information more widely available and affordable. The company was renamed Hoover's, Inc. in 1996, and today operates Hoover's Online, one of the world's leading electronic distributors of information on companies, industries, and the people who lead them. In July of 1999 Hoover's went public, trading on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol HOOV. Major investor partners include AOL Time Warner and Media General.

Today, Hoover's energies are devoted to speaking around the world to corporate and entrepreneurial audiences on strategic thinking and the lessons and principles of entrepreneurship; his book Hoover's Vision: Think Different for Business Success is due out in late 2001 from Texere Publishing (www.etexere.com). He has been interviewed on CNN and on various radio programs, in addition to being featured in The Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, and newspaper articles from coast to coast.

Presentation Topics. . .

• Seven Keys to Building and Leading Successful Enterprises
• Navigation New Frontiers
• Leadership in the 21st Century